Day 1: The Trip Officially Begins in Edinburgh
A little more exploring . . .
We needed to change hotel rooms, so we took to the streets again from about 10:30-2:30. We both felt pretty well recovered from our flight, so we walked a ways and grabbed a coffee at the Elephant House, the small cafe where J.K. Rowling wrote Harry Potter. We spent countess hours reading her books to our children, so it was fun to see this little piece of literary history in person.
We also set out to visit the botanical gardens. We got a little turned around looking for it and ended up asking a bobby how to get there. It turns out we were walking in the wrong direction! When we told him we wanted to walk to the botanical gardens, he looked at us like we were crazy and said, “That’s too far to walk. That’s on the other side of town, over two miles from here.” We kindly took his directions and walked there.
We also set out to visit the botanical gardens. We got a little turned around looking for it and ended up asking a bobby how to get there. It turns out we were walking in the wrong direction! When we told him we wanted to walk to the botanical gardens, he looked at us like we were crazy and said, “That’s too far to walk. That’s on the other side of town, over two miles from here.” We kindly took his directions and walked there.
The tour officially begins!
About 3:00, we met our group and our guide, Nigel. This is always an exciting time on a Rick Steves' Tour. These would be our travel mates for the next 10 days. As we had done in the past, we began to get to know the other tour members. It was a great group of people.
We took a group walking tour of new town. It's called new town because it was part of a revitalization plan implemented when Scotland was in economic trouble. We then went to a nice restaurant in town for a group supper. We spent an enjoyable evening getting to know each other. My cultural event for the evening was eating rabbit for the first time; I really liked it!
We took a group walking tour of new town. It's called new town because it was part of a revitalization plan implemented when Scotland was in economic trouble. We then went to a nice restaurant in town for a group supper. We spent an enjoyable evening getting to know each other. My cultural event for the evening was eating rabbit for the first time; I really liked it!